Frotz vs Treasure Castle
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Frotz
Experience classic text-based adventure games on your mobile device. Relive the golden age of interactive fiction with hundreds of free titles, supporting various game formats. Perfect for those who enjoy reading, thinking, and typing their way through immersive stories.
- Play hundreds of free interactive fiction games
- Supports Z-Machine, glulx, and TADS formats
- Relive classic text adventures
- Modern interface with high-resolution fonts
- Play on iPhone and iPad
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[*Warning* Playing Frotz involves reading, thinking, and typing. If you just want to blow stuff up, this is not the app for you!] Burned out on all the new-fangled graphics and dazzling eye candy on your shiny new iPhone or iPad? Nostalgic for a simpler time? Then take advantage of those crisp high-resolution fonts to relive the glory days of the Great Underground Empire, or play any of hundreds of great works from the Interactive Fiction archive. Frotz lets you play hundreds of free works of Interactive Fiction (a.k.a. text adventure games) on your iPhone or iPad. Frotz plays titles written in the Z-Machine format (which was invented by Infocom and was used to produce classic text adventures from the 80s such as the Zork Trilogy, Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, and Trinity), as well as glulx and TADS formats. In the past couple of decades, text adventures have experienced a renaissance of sorts due to the efforts of a diverse Internet community of talented interactive fiction writers and fans. Many of these games are written using the same engine that powered Infocom's titles, thanks to the Inform compiler and authoring system created by Graham Nelson. NOTE! If you have suggestions for improving Frotz or encounter bugs, please go to the support link and report them. Frotz for iOS - Interactive Fiction at Your Fingertips
Treasure Castle
Embark on a retro-style text adventure game ported from 1987. Explore over 60 rooms, uncover hidden areas, and solve the castle's secrets to find the treasure. Experience the authentic feel of 80s gaming.
- Retro text-adventure gameplay
- Over 60 explorable rooms
- Discover hidden rooms and secrets
- Map for exploration
- 80s writing style and feel
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Treasure Castle is a retro-style text-adventure game. Originally created in 1987, over 30 years later, we have ported it to mobile. The writing and feel of it comes directly from the 80s. With over 60 “rooms” to explore and discover, you will enjoy the taste of yesteryear. Find hidden rooms and hallways. Discover the secrets of the castle but beware of dangers. Use your map to discover secrets. Can you find the treasure and win?
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is ads: Frotz at none against Treasure Castle's shown. Frotz also leads on ratings volume (259 vs 9) and update cadence (every 5 months vs every 13 months). Treasure Castle's advantage is rating (5.0 vs 4.8) and review sentiment (100% vs 91%). On price, in-app purchases, device support and iOS requirement there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS
Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
Treasure Castle holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.8. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Frotz has 259 ratings behind it against 9, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 91% of Frotz's written reviews are positive against 100% of Treasure Castle's.
Frotz ships an update every 5 months, Treasure Castle every 13 months. The most recent releases landed on October 23, 2026 and October 15, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Frotz | Treasure Castle |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.8 (259 ratings) | 5.0 (9 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 90.8% of reviews | 100.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 259 — better | 9 |
| Update frequency | Every 5 months — better | Every 13 months |
| Ads | No — better | Yes |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free — better | Ad-supported |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 11.0 — better | 12.1 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 45 MB | 19 MB |
| Age rating | 9+ | 9+ |
| Developer | Craig Smith | Richard Wittmann |
Customer experience
Frotz
Treasure Castle
Bugs and requests
Frotz
Reported bugs
2 issues- Crashes when trying to resume certain saved games
- Inconsistent behavior when deleting or importing games
Requested features
4 requests- Add support for more modern interactive fiction formats
- Implement cloud sync and cross-device save support
- Improve game library management and discovery
- Add more customization options for text display
Treasure Castle
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Frotz
No in-app purchases
Treasure Castle
No in-app purchases
